Key Terms and Places Lesson Summary

Name______Class______Date ______History of Sub-Saharan Africa Lesson 1

MAIN IDEAS 1. The remains of early humans have been found at sites all around Africa. 2. During the Stone and Iron Ages, people learned to make increasingly complex tools and formed Africa’s first societies. 3. Anthropologists have learned how early Africans adapted to different environments by studying modern cultures.

Key Terms and Places

Olduvai Gorge famous Stone Age site, located on the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania hominids early ancestors of humans hunter-gatherers people who hunted animals and gathered plants, seeds, and nuts for food rock art drawings and paintings left on stone nomads people who move from place to place in search of food or other needs

Lesson Summary EARLY HUMAN SITES

Prehistory is the word historians use for the time Circle the name of what is before written records. The Stone Age was a very perhaps the most famous long period of prehistory. During the Stone Age, Stone Age site in Africa. people made their tools and weapons from stone or bone. The Olduvai Gorge is perhaps the most famous Stone Age site in Africa. There, anthropologists have discovered the fossil remains of more than 60 hominids. These discoveries have helped scientists see how early humans developed and changed. The first hominid discovery at Olduvai Gorge was made by anthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959. She found pieces of a skull belonging to an Australopithecus. About a year later, Mary and her husband Richard found bones from a different type of hominid. Scientists have also found the remains of two other hominid species at Olduvai Gorge. A species called Homo erectus,

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 348 Guided Reading Workbook Name______Class______Date ______Lesson 1, continued or “upright man,” may have appeared in Africa about 1.5 million years ago. Scientists think these people walked completely upright and knew how to control fire. They used it to cook food, for heat, and as protection against wild animals. How was Lucy similar to Modern humans are called Homo sapiens, or Mary Leakey’s 1959 find? “wise man.” Another Australopithecus was found ______in Ethiopia in 1974 by Donald Johanson. He ______named his find Lucy. In 1976, Mary Leakey ______found fossilized hominid footprints in Tanzania. Most of these finds were in East Africa, but hominid remains have been found in other parts of Africa. These discoveries have helped scholars trace the spread of early people across Africa.

THE STONE AND IRON AGES The Stone Age lasted more than 2.5 million years Why was the hand ax in some places. To make this long period of time easier to use than the first easier to understand, scientists have divided it stone tools? into three periods. In the Early Stone Age, people ______learned to shape stone into tools. They used these ______tools for tasks such as digging up roots and ______hunting small animals. The tools became more ______complex as time went by. The hand ax, usually made of flint, was shaped into a rough oval. One side of the oval was sharpened for cutting. The other side was rounded, making it easier to hold. Early Stone Age people were hunter-gatherers who lived in caves for protection from weather and animals. At times, they decorated these caves with scenes of hunting or other activities. This rock art can be found throughout Africa. The Middle Stone Age began at different times in different parts of Africa. Tools made in the Middle Stone Age were smaller and had sharper edges. People attached handles of bone or wood to these tools to make spears, axes, and other useful tools. New tools helped people adapt to new environments and settle in other parts of Africa.

In the Later Stone Age, people made advanced tools, including knives and saws. They also used the bow and arrow for hunting. They wove baskets and made pottery containers for cooking and storage. People all over Africa learned to plant crops and herd animals. This provided a steady supply of food and allowed people to settle in permanent communities. People in these communities developed distinct lifestyles. The Stone Age ended when people learned Underline the sentence that how to make tools out of metal. Iron was the describes iron tools. most common metal used to make tools in Africa. Iron tools are very strong and sharp. Evidence shows that Africans had begun making iron tools in some places by about 600 BC.

AFRICANS ADAPT TO DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS As people settled various parts of Africa during Circle the names of three the Stone Age, they developed distinct cultures. Stone Age cultures. These cultures were influenced by the Underline the words that describe their surrounding environment. Some African cultures environments. remained in the Stone Age until modern times. Anthropologists have studied the traditional ways of these modern Stone Age cultures, and this has helped them understand how people lived thousands of years ago. The Bambuti people live in the tropical rain forests of the Congo Basin. They are nomads who use bows, arrows, and spears to hunt animals. They gather wild yams, fruits, berries, and other plants. The San people of the Kalahari Desert are also hunter-gatherers. They use tools of wood, bone, reeds, and stone. They hunt with snares, by throwing sticks, and with bows and arrows. They have learned to adapt to their dry environment. The Maasai people in the savanna of East Africa have also adapted to their environment. They herd cattle and other animals instead of hunting and gathering. They are known as fierce warriors.

CHALLENGE ACTIVITY Critical Thinking: Explain In what ways did humans develop during the Stone Age? Write a short paragraph to explain your answer.

DIRECTIONS Read each sentence and fill in the blank with the word in the word pair that best completes the sentence. 1. One of the most famous Stone Age sites in Africa is the ______. (Congo Basin/Olduvai Gorge) 2. Both Mary Leakey and Donald Johanson discovered bones of a ______, an early human ancestor. (hominid/hunter-gatherer) 3. The Bambuti people live in temporary homes because they are ______. (hominids/nomads) 4. Stone Age people sometimes decorated their shelters with ______showing scenes of hunting. (rock art/Olduvai Gorge) 5. Early Stone Age people were ______who ate game and wild plants. (Australopithecus/hunter-gatherers)

DIRECTIONS Write two words or phrases that describe each term.

6. Olduvai Gorge ______ 7. Stone Age people ______8. rock art ______